Somehow, Tampa is big and small. They are skilled and tough. They are fast, creative and have edge. They will rub you out. They will make your head spin. And they will score. Oh, they will score lots of goals.

The forwards get all the love. For good reasons. Whatever juice is left behind goes to the goalie. He’s 23 years old and may win the Vezina. He’s good.

But the defence is a freaking monument.

Hedman is 6-foot-forever and ridiculous.

Suster is 6-foot-7.

Girardi can hit and hit and hit.

Sergechev is 6-foot-3 and his skating is a thing of beauty.

If only the Canucks had one of these guys.

Stralman could arguably be their best dman.

Oh yeah, they could have had one of those guys.

That’s a story for another day.

Tonight?

This game was over before it started. And you should have been sitting back admiring this creation that is the Tampa Bay Lightning, wondering how long it will be before the Canucks have a team like this.

Actually, don’t.

That’s a little depressing.

What’s not is listening to Henrik talk about Tampa’s D.

“They come at y0u so quick and they all have good sticks,” Henrik said.

“They have three guys back there who play like Chara. They have good sticks, long reach, they’re on you quick and they can also jump up into the play.”

Tampa has this incredible team. They have the best line in hockey and Henrik is sitting here talking about how attacking its D is like playing three Charas at the same time.

Meanwhile, some of us in Van are left tonight just excited to get a chance to see Darren Freakin’ Archibald play.

Man, life moves fast.

BEST BACK PATTING

The Canucks were looking for a trading partner to move Nilsson.

It wasn’t an impossible concept. It does look that way now.

There were five teams interested in him in the summer and the Canucks had been making a list of possible destinations this winter, exploring out options.

But it doesn’t matter how much a goalie coach or an executive from another city likes this particular backup.

Who is going to trade anything of value for a goalie giving up five goals on the regular?

Nilsson was in an impossible spot tonight, btw.

He was great in Winnipeg. But it was 18 days ago.

So, play great, sit for 17 and then start in one of the toughest buildings in the NHL against one of the most devastatingly dangerous teams.

Nilsson needed all the help he could get and he didn’t get much.

Was he great?

No.

How many goalies are going to be great being out this long?

Any momentum he had generated in Winnipeg was long gone. He won’t say it.

“Obviously, it’s been a while since I played last time,” he said. “It shouldn’t matter.

“It’s no excuse for letting in five goals. There are other reasons that happened.

“I don’t want to go in a direction I can’t do anything about.”

The Provies plan had Nilsson starting a week ago against Chicago, in a game the Canucks won, then riding the wave with starts against Florida Tuesday and Carolina tomorrow.

That plan had a chance to get Nilsson an uptick on the save percentage.

They blew it.

This plan tonight?

It was buried before it started.

If Markstrom is the best goalie on this team, and he is, why is he getting Carolina on this back-to-back?

How many backups are starting against Tampa?

The last back-to-backs, Nilsson got the tougher opponent, which was the second game.

This time he gets the first one, which is, wait for it, the tougher opponent.

The Canes have been just awful too.

This Nilsson start was an inside job.

BEST WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

To be honest, Luongo is better than both the Canucks’ goalies and could have been a fantastic mentor for Demko.

Few understand the position and what it takes to be elite more than Luongo.

And no one understands our market better.

BEST ORAL HISTORY

The Stamkos goal is everything which represents the current state of the Canucks.

A brutal giveaway. A soft, lost defensive play. A wide-open superstar. A goalie who can’t save the day.

The Canucks are two games into this road trip and this play captured both in one brief, not-so-shining moment.

Henrik: “I got it behind the net and I thought somebody called for a reverse. (That’s MDZ on the other side of the net.)

“They picked it off. By me doing that, it put other guys out of position.

“That’s what happens.”

Nilsson: “They had two guys at net front there. It was a pass from low to high. And then he made a second pass.”

Green: “The turnover is a tough one. Hank knows that. That’s what happens when you turn a puck over there.”

BEST QUESTION

Who do you guess?

BEST HEAD WRAPPING

I’m really trying to get my head to come around on MDZ.

Obviously, I see some of what Green sees.

He lays out, lots. He’s out there trying to be physical and not everyone on this team is.

Yes, he’s hitting and blocking shots.

But his play in tight, in and around his own net …

DT calls it “cake testing.”

It’s just a lot of “spamming the poke check” to get over.

BEST I KNOW IT’S BAD BUT …

There’s just no way:

BEST JUXTAPOSITION

For a team known most for drafting skill, little guys and Russians, Tamp was just bodying the Canucks when they were invested in the game early.

Daniel got toyed with by Girardi.

Boeser got trucked by Girardi.

And Edler had his face bounced off the glass (to the right on this next gif).

If you’re looking for potential suitors for Vanek, one place to circle is Nashville.

Even with Fisher coming back, the Preds could use a winger, a scoring winger.

In Sunrise, Vrbata was busy reminding me of the chemistry he had with Bonino and how much he loved playing with Bones as a C.

Don’t you think a Vanek-Bonino duo could work?

Maybe a Vanek, Bonino and Fisher third line for Nash.

It looks to me like an NHL third line that could give your team some secondary scoring in the playoffs.

The Preds are being aggressive. But I think, in the end, they could come around to looking for value.

I know they’ve been tied with Rick Nash and are considered the front runner, and maybe it happens. Poile has chased him before.

But Nash is likely to be pricey. NYR wants legit top-six prices for him, meaning the risk/reward balance may not tip Poile’s way and Poile generally doesn’t get fleeced.

If you’re looking for value, in terms of money and acquisition costs, you’ll be hard pressed to top Vanek on this list.

And here’s the kicker, the Preds were one of the teams in on Vanek in the summer and some believe the final decision came down to Canucks/Preds.

Could have used him hitting the net here.

That’s one shot on net for him in two games and four attempts.

BEST WHERE DO I SIGN?

BEST CLOSE CALL

BEST UPDATE

Gaunce’s foot not expected to be as bad as Horvat’s.

Should only miss a few weeks.

Granlund’s ankle looks wrecked.

BEST EXCHANGE

JPAT: There’s 28 games to go, coach. Is there more to give from your guys?

GREEN: What do you mean?

JPAT: Is this really the essence of the team, the inconsistency and the struggling?

GREEN: You’ll see a lot of teams that are trying to get better as an organization, trying to develop a winning culture moving ahead.

This is part of it. You’re going to have ups and downs.

We’ve played Tampa two times out of three games and we had two pretty good efforts.

(If these are good efforts, there’s not much more to give, fam.)

BIGGEST SLUMP

how long is too long to go without a power play goal? Tomorrow will be one full calendar year for #Canucks Loui Eriksson. The Nux need more from their $36M dollar man and he knows ithttps://t.co/5sON2milpn

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The Provies: The Tampa reality, the Nilsson blown chance, the Vanek plan and livin' that Archibald life